Colors to the Mast, Seven Years Later

The posting below was one of the first I made at the Augean Stables, when the Danish Cartoon Scandal broke and newspapers, especially in the USA, caved to intimidation. Current events indicate that, far from leading to a maturing among Muslims over the past seven years, the “respect” Westerners have shown them has only emboldened their infantile rage. Daniel Pipes has suggested a Muhammad Cartoon a Day in response.

Rather than just repost the same cartoon every day, I’ll run the series of posts I wrote at the time of the affair, which I think was a key moment in the massive losses in the Cognitive War that the West has suffered over the last twelve years. I begin with my posting of the cartoons.

I should note that according to MEMRI there has been some serious self-criticism in the Arab and Muslim world!

The attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and embassy in Cairo on the night of September 11, 2012, and the spread of violent protests to many countries in the Middle East have sparked unprecedented criticism in the Arab press of Arab and Islamic society and its way of dealing with the current crisis. Many articles claimed that violent protests harm the Prophet Muhammad and his way and are contrary to Islam’s moral standards, and that it would have been better to show the moderate and tolerant face of Islam by responding through artistic and cultural expression.

Here they are. The source of the brouhaha. To be honest, there are none that are particularly witty, many that are mediocre or incomprehensible, and some that try to be as respectful as they can (poor dears, don’t understand that any depiction is unacceptable). It’s actually pretty pitiful, both for the Danish cartoonists who scarcely made any use of the satire their medium favors, and the Muslims who consider this an assault on their religion. How the mighty have been brought low by cowardice and insecurity.

Ultimately this is not about respect or lack of it, it’s about bullying the Europeans into behaving like dhimmi, it’s about a classic type of kind of zero-sum honor — my honor is gained by your disgrace — and this from people who do not hesitate to show the most hateful contempt for others. If the Muslims succeed in getting the Europeans to back down on this one, they’ve won a huge victory over a cowardly foe.

We lose face, they get more aggressive. As Daniel notes, they are playing this not as the hurt objects of an unfortunate cultural misunderstanding, but as the offended and provoked objects of legitimate provocation. Maybe Europeans might begin to reconsider their cheap sympathy for suicide bombing based on the impression that if they reacted so violently, then the Israelis must have done something to them.

Let’s hope they’ve finally gone too far. Go Europe. Please?

#1: Muhammad and turban: the source of the problem — a realistic depiction with an explosive message.

#2: Clever but tame.

#3: Muhammad as Salahadin, showing the ego-strength not to go ballistic with every challenge to his honor.

#4: Persecution and the art of writing — predictably nervous.

#5: Is the line up supposed to make identification uncertain, to put Muhammad in with the rest of the great prophets? Or is this about multi-cultural Islam?

#6:
pretty neutral.

#7: I don’t get this one either. Is this a way of avoiding the problem? Why PR Stunt?

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Fatal Attraction: The shared antichrist of the Global Progressive Left and Jihad Richard Landes, Boston University, History Department From: The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel, edited by Read More »